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Black Carbon

Well, this bit of news isn't going to make German automakers or truckmakers terribly happy. Following the connection between diesel fumes and cancer, scientists have found that the black particles created by burning fuels – i.e. black carbon or soot – do more to warm the earth than previously estimated, The New York Times reports, citing a study written by more than 30 scientists that was released this week.

Back before the age of emissions regulations or the technology to do anything about them anyway, new factories and power plants sprung up and dumped huge amounts of black soot into the air on a daily basis. Then, prevailing winds swept the soot away and dumped it off elsewhere. Where? Apparently, in the arctic for one. Ice samples reveal that huge amounts of pollution and black soot were deposited in Greenland, and researchers believe that the soot is from North America. The data shows that the